The Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco celebrates design — the process of taking a great idea and turning it into a reality. With more than 20 different exhibits regularly on display that showcase the innovative work of Autodesk customers, the gallery illustrates the role technology plays in great design and engineering. I am one of about 80 gallery ambassadors. As I have mentioned before, we chose the job title "ambassador" instead of "docent," because the correct way to address an ambassador is "your excellency" yet this never happens.

In December I mentioned that the gallery was getting some new exhibits — ones that had returned from Paris and/or Las Vegas. Many It's Alive in the Lab readers have not been to the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco. If you are an Autodesk customer in one of the industries we serve or not a customer at all, there is definitely something in the gallery for you to see. In a series of four blog articles, I thought would highlight gallery exhibits that are related to a specific industry. This first post is for the AEC industry. Here are the exhibits:

LEED Platinum

The renovation of the second floor of One Market was the second project in northern California to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum award for commercial interiors (the first was the Energy Foundation in San Francisco). Autodesk is committed to sustainability in two ways: our operations (travel, power consumed by computers, facilities) and software we make (tools in applications to help our customers make more sustainable products).

Shanghai Tower

The building represents a "vertical city" with 8 stacked neighborhoods (128 floors) where each one is an open-to-the-public park with 14 stories above it. Autodesk analysis tools were used by Gensler to: reduce energy consumption 30-40%, reduce water usage 40%, and require 35% less material due to its twisted tapering shape (optimized via wind tunnel analysis).

Artfully Done

SFMOMA is adding a 10-story, 235,000 sq. ft. addition whose facade is being created from 700 unique glass fiber reinforced plastic panels, a material typically used for the manufacture of boats. Two Autodesk customers, Snohetta and Kreysler & Associates, worked together to combine architecture and digital fabrication processes normally used for manufacturing.

California Academy of Sciences

Billed as the greenest museum in the world, the structure houses a natural history museum, planetarium, aquarium, and living rain forest and requires little or no A/C or heating due to its innovative domed roof design that acts like an airplane wing to provide ventilation. Algorithmic design (specifying the layout using an equation instead of individually) via AutoCAD yielded the intricate design which has variations at each intersection point of the roofing grid.

Designing the Invisible

Scientists at the University of Oregon discovered that different room types contain very different microbial ecosystems (some helpful, some harmful) based on internal air flow, human traffic flow, temperature, and connection to the outdoors. Soon designers will be able to use an innovative tool, code named Project BiomeView, to help visualize and analyze the consequences of design decisions on microbial ecosystems.

Healthy Structures

Inspired by LEGO blocks and the Rubik's Cube, Brunet Saunier Architecture designed a hospital referred to as a monospace: a structure with strong conceptual identity but flexible enough to address a variety of evolving requirements in the future of medicine. Brunet Saunier Architecture leveraged AutoCAD, Revit, and 3ds Max to make this hospital a reality by designing a series of rooms that can be repurposed as hospital needs change.

A Building That Heals

At any time, over 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from infectious complications acquired in hospitals, so the Butaro Hospital, constructed using local labor in Riwanda, was designed to maximize patient health. Software like AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit allow architects, like those on the Butaro Hospital, to create designs that leverage natural ventilation aided by 24' ceiling fans and beds that face windows so patients enjoy natural light.

A Place to Call Home

In San Francisco, an estimated 10,000 people sleep on the streets on any given night, so the Richardson Apartments provide modest, yet dignified, accommodations for formerly homeless people. AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit allow architects to maximize usable space while minimizing construction cost.

Cathedral of Christ The Light

The cathedral, located near Lake Merritt in Oakland, has won several (27 to date) awards for design based on its use of Christian symbolism in its architecture. SOM routinely uses Autodesk software for the design and documentation of their buildings, and in this case, stress analysis tools showed Douglas Fir wood framing to be a better choice than steel.

Hyper-threads

The design of this conceptual train depot is as visually interesting as it is strong since the structural ribs are aligned to the directions of the force flows. While working in the IDEA Studio, using a combination of Maya and Algor Simulation, Bhooshan and Klein were able to combine a playful form finding approach with qualitative structural analysis.

Imagining buildings that build themselves

Self assembly is the process where a system spontaneously assembles from separate components without external guidance. Autodesk is working with scientists at MIT and the Scripps Research Institute to apply self-assembly techniques at the large scale such as for buildings.

So whether you're an AEC aficionado or not, come check out exhibits, old and new, at the Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco. There is plenty to see. This blog article highlighted only the AEC-oriented ones. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a guided tour on Wednesdays at 12:30 pm. Visit us.

The Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco celebrates design — the process of taking a great idea and turning it into a reality. With more than 20 different exhibits regularly on display that showcase the innovative work of Autodesk customers, the gallery illustrates the role technology plays in great design and engineering. I am one of about 80 gallery ambassadors. As I have mentioned before, we chose the job title "ambassador" instead of "docent," because the correct way to address an ambassador is "your excellency" yet this never happens.

In December I mentioned that the gallery was getting some new exhibits — ones that had returned from Paris and/or Las Vegas. Many It's Alive in the Lab readers have not been to the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco. If you are an Autodesk customer in one of the industries we serve or not a customer at all, there is definitely something in the gallery for you to see. In a series of four blog articles, I thought would highlight gallery exhibits that are related to a specific industry. This first post is for the AEC industry. Here are the exhibits:

LEED Platinum

The renovation of the second floor of One Market was the second project in northern California to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum award for commercial interiors (the first was the Energy Foundation in San Francisco). Autodesk is committed to sustainability in two ways: our operations (travel, power consumed by computers, facilities) and software we make (tools in applications to help our customers make more sustainable products).

Shanghai Tower

The building represents a "vertical city" with 8 stacked neighborhoods (128 floors) where each one is an open-to-the-public park with 14 stories above it. Autodesk analysis tools were used by Gensler to: reduce energy consumption 30-40%, reduce water usage 40%, and require 35% less material due to its twisted tapering shape (optimized via wind tunnel analysis).

Artfully Done

SFMOMA is adding a 10-story, 235,000 sq. ft. addition whose facade is being created from 700 unique glass fiber reinforced plastic panels, a material typically used for the manufacture of boats. Two Autodesk customers, Snohetta and Kreysler & Associates, worked together to combine architecture and digital fabrication processes normally used for manufacturing.

California Academy of Sciences

Billed as the greenest museum in the world, the structure houses a natural history museum, planetarium, aquarium, and living rain forest and requires little or no A/C or heating due to its innovative domed roof design that acts like an airplane wing to provide ventilation. Algorithmic design (specifying the layout using an equation instead of individually) via AutoCAD yielded the intricate design which has variations at each intersection point of the roofing grid.

Designing the Invisible

Scientists at the University of Oregon discovered that different room types contain very different microbial ecosystems (some helpful, some harmful) based on internal air flow, human traffic flow, temperature, and connection to the outdoors. Soon designers will be able to use an innovative tool, code named Project BiomeView, to help visualize and analyze the consequences of design decisions on microbial ecosystems.

Healthy Structures

Inspired by LEGO blocks and the Rubik's Cube, Brunet Saunier Architecture designed a hospital referred to as a monospace: a structure with strong conceptual identity but flexible enough to address a variety of evolving requirements in the future of medicine. Brunet Saunier Architecture leveraged AutoCAD, Revit, and 3ds Max to make this hospital a reality by designing a series of rooms that can be repurposed as hospital needs change.

A Building That Heals

At any time, over 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from infectious complications acquired in hospitals, so the Butaro Hospital, constructed using local labor in Riwanda, was designed to maximize patient health. Software like AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit allow architects, like those on the Butaro Hospital, to create designs that leverage natural ventilation aided by 24' ceiling fans and beds that face windows so patients enjoy natural light.

A Place to Call Home

In San Francisco, an estimated 10,000 people sleep on the streets on any given night, so the Richardson Apartments provide modest, yet dignified, accommodations for formerly homeless people. AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit allow architects to maximize usable space while minimizing construction cost.

Cathedral of Christ The Light

The cathedral, located near Lake Merritt in Oakland, has won several (27 to date) awards for design based on its use of Christian symbolism in its architecture. SOM routinely uses Autodesk software for the design and documentation of their buildings, and in this case, stress analysis tools showed Douglas Fir wood framing to be a better choice than steel.

Hyper-threads

The design of this conceptual train depot is as visually interesting as it is strong since the structural ribs are aligned to the directions of the force flows. While working in the IDEA Studio, using a combination of Maya and Algor Simulation, Bhooshan and Klein were able to combine a playful form finding approach with qualitative structural analysis.

Imagining buildings that build themselves

Self assembly is the process where a system spontaneously assembles from separate components without external guidance. Autodesk is working with scientists at MIT and the Scripps Research Institute to apply self-assembly techniques at the large scale such as for buildings.

So whether you're an AEC aficionado or not, come check out exhibits, old and new, at the Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco. There is plenty to see. This blog article highlighted only the AEC-oriented ones. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a guided tour on Wednesdays at 12:30 pm. Visit us.